Saturday, June 30, 2007

SiCKO, was sick yo!

So I was sitting in a theater watching Pirates the third, killing some time before seeing the movie SiCKO. I had bought a ticket for Michael Moore's film about the joys of the American health care system but being it wasn't a while until the next showing I decided to sneak in to another. Pirates. Well... it's Pirates, and it was entertaining for a while. Chow Yun fat was awesome, and Keira Knightly was even better, but I was quickly bored. It's a good looking movie but I just couldn't imagine sitting through the entire thing. I needed something to get my brain stimulated, not a boring Hollywood blockbuster.

When it was time for Sicko, I quickly jumped theaters. This was a movie I knew going in would be pretty entertaining based on all the praise from audiences and critics alike. More fodder to paint America in an unfavorable light and showcasing his love for Canada, (and other such countries with universal health care). Michael Moore gives viewers an entertaining look of a serious issue and as expected it was good stuff.

Hearing the testimonials from the various cases interviewed in the film, it's hard not to go through a range of emotions sitting in that theater seat. You'll feel like I did, angry, sad, and sympathetic towards their situations, but you'll have a good laugh as well. I couldn't help but feel angry and pretty disgusted with America... the greedy people who run the country. Especially since much of my family clan lives in the states and well have "faith" in Kaiser Permanente. What makes it even worse, my relatives are immigrants, who view America as the "land of Dreams", all the while believing the government would take care of them as they work their asses off to make a better life for themselves. And like anyone else, they to deal with the health care system. Lets just say that they've encountered their own problems with it. Kaiser, Kaiser, damn that Kaiser.

You can say what you want about Michael Moore's tactics and film-making style but seriously he brings an important topic to the people to spark discussion for change. America has some issues, important issues that cannot be ignored. And though Canada, Cuba, France, and Great Britain are portrayed as great Utopian societies, no place or system is perfect.

While the latest Die Hard film is oh so patriotic and American, Sicko makes me not wanna see it.

Well, it's Canada Day tomorrow. Time to celebrate Canada and the universal health care.

Checkout SiCKO on Yahoo Movies.

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